Three Liberal Democrat knights from the Coalition era will make a comeback to try to win back their seats in the snap election.

The trio of Remainers – all former Cabinet members – put themselves forward as the party attempts to come back from the political dead.

Veterans Sir Vince Cable, Sir Ed Davey and Sir Simon Hughes all lost their seats in 2015 when the party was reduced to just eight MPs.

Within hours of the PM’s announcement, membership of the party surged by thousands. Leader Tim Farron declared that the poll was a chance for voters to avert a ‘disastrous’ Brexit.

He hailed it as a ‘chance to change the direction of the country’ and vowed to campaign to keep Britain in the single market.

Polls show that Theresa May is set to return after June's election with a majority of more than 100. But the Conservatives are vulnerable to the Lib Dems in several areas of the country

The unashamedly pro-European party hopes to walk back into some of the 49 seats it lost to both Labour and the Tories in the bloodbath of 2015.

However, Lib Dem sources refused to say definitively how many seats they hoped to win.

Nick Clegg, who resigned as leader after the humiliating defeat, will stand again to defend his seat in Sheffield Hallam, insiders said.

Some 50 per cent of those Lib Dems who stood in 2015 and lost have been re-selected to stand again. Sir Vince, 73, will make a political comeback after he lost his seat in Twickenham as the Tories swept to victory.

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The former Business Secretary, who held the seat from 1997 to 2015, will stand against Tory MP Tania Mathias.

Sir Simon, who was an MP from 1983 to 2015, will stand in his former constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark.

The former deputy leader will challenge Labour MP Neil Coyle in the south-east London seat. Sir Simon, 65, said the Liberal Democrats had ‘as good a chance of winning again as we ever had’.

He claimed that Labour MPs are focused on ‘fighting internal battles’ within their party. Former Energy Secretary Sir Ed, 51, hopes to reclaim his former seat in Kingston and Surbiton from Conservative James Berry.

Sir Vince Cable lost his seat, which had been considered safe, to Tory candidate Tania Mathias in 2015 general election, losing his place in the cabinet in the process

Sir Ed Davey (left) and Sir Simon Hughes (right) also lost their seats in 2015 when the party was reduced to just eight MPs

Mr Farron said: ‘Bring this election on. The fightback starts here. This election is your chance to change the direction of our country.’ Striking an optimistic tone, he insisted that only his party could prevent a Tory majority.

Mr Farron said: ‘Labour won’t win any seats off the Conservatives. The SNP could only possibly win one seat off the Conservatives.

‘But there are dozens of Conservative seats where the Lib Dems are the challengers.’

Mr Farron told voters: ‘If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the single market.

‘If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance.’

Party sources said: ‘We are pretty confident, we expect to do quite well.’ But the appeal of the Lib Dems in former strongholds like Cornwall, Devon and Somerset which came out in favour of leaving the EU may be a struggle.

Within hours of the yesterday’s announcement, membership of the party surged by thousands. Leader Tim Farron (pictured) declared that the poll was a chance for voters to avert a ‘disastrous’ Brexit

Those thousands of voters who backed Brexit may prove unlikely to support Mr Farron’s pro- Brussels message.

With polls putting the Lib Dems on only 10 per cent, any chance of returning to the parliamentary force they were in 2005 and 2010 seems unlikely.

But the party has always concentrated more on local campaigning in winnable seats than the national polls.

The 2015 backlash after five years in coalition with the Tories saw them lose ground to their former partners in south-west England and the London suburbs.

They will be hopeful that Sarah Olney’s success in the Richmond Park by-election last year is a sign the party is bouncing back in south-west London. Her victory took the party up to nine MPs.

Mr Farron indicated that the Lib Dem ambition was to prevent the Tories from having an outright majority, giving his party leverage over the terms of Brexit.

A surge in membership yesterday – gaining 2,500 new members within hours – meant the party has doubled in size since May 2015.